Laughs of Sorrow, Smiles Of Mourning
by Late For The Sky
Summary: Second entry for the "Role Reversal" challenge on sga flashfic. Bit darker than previous entry. "In a blink of an eye, they disappeared..."


**A/N:** _Written for the "Role Reversal" Challenge on sga flashfic._

It would be wrong to say that he was creeped out. No, a better phrase would be "scared -shitless-about-to-piss-his-pants-off-the-scale-freaked". Ah, yes, that was _so_ much better. 'Cause if having your C.O. disappear into thin air while you were talking to him wasn't bad enough, try finding out that _all_ the senior staff, including Ronon and Teyla, had gone "poof" as well, and you were suddenly in charge of a city full of geeks and jarheads with no idea what the hell to do. Lorne had gathered all of the "Second-String" assistant senior staff in one of the conference rooms to try and figure out what the hell had happened.

Zelenka was looking lost as he tried to deal with the myriad of demands on his time that were normally split between himself and McKay, while Biro was trying to figure out a revised duty roster now that Carson wasn't around. It was barely organized chaos, and was slowly slipping ever faster towards complete and utter mayhem. Lorne had never realized how much the Expedition had depended on the senior staff, never knew how much actual _work_ went into keeping 400-plus people alive and kicking. Oh, he'd seen the XO's side of it, but even with Doctors Radek Zelenka and Sasha Barnes helping divide the loads of Weir, Sheppard, and McKay between them, it made him grateful that he didn't have to deal with this every day.

'Okay, what have we figured out?' he asked as everyone settled into their chairs. Zelenka cleared his throat hesitantly and then spoke, occasionally dropping into Czech as he did so.

'Ah... We have found that it was a device in one of the physics labs that did this. The purpose of the machine is not... _zjevný_... apparent, sorry, but we are working on it. Hopefully, should be figured out soon, yes?' He said, his normally excellent English deteriorating as he ran his hands through his hair. Barnes patted him vaguely on the shoulder, her mussed mahogany-colored hair falling about her face as she riffled through the papers spread out on the table in front of her.

'Ah, don't worry 'bout it, Radek. We'll figure out somethin'.' She said distractedly, her Kentucky accent deepening as she worked. Barnes was something of a parallel to Lorne and Zelenka in regards to her place in the Expedition's hierarchy, save for she was Elizabeth's informal aide, even though she was theoretically part of the Life Sciences department, having been hired for her doctorates in linguistics and sociology.

'Okay, let's go over this again. At about 0930 this morning, I was talking with Colonel Sheppard after breakfast about his upcoming mission to M9T-392 when he suddenly disappeared. Radek?' Evan asked, leaning back in his chair.

'McKay was yelling at Forester and Raines when he disappeared.' Radek replied.

'Elizabeth was doing her morning paperwork when I heard her coffee mug shatter.' Sasha continued on, her grey eyes looking slightly haunted.

'Doctor Beckett was feeding his mice.' All eyes turned to Biro, who had stopped doing the work rosters and was staring off into space, her gaze fixed on the wall behind Evan. 'I only knew something was going on because one of the mice ran out of the cage and scared Nurse Callahan.'

Evan looked around the table, noting the very dejected faces and body language of the people gathered there. After a few moments, he straightened up in his chair and stood, startling a few people near him as he did so.

'Alright, here's how it's gonna work. We're going to continue on with our day the best we can. Radek, I want the entire Ancient Tech and Physics departments working on how to get our senior staff back home. Sasha, I need you to co-ordinate the 'Gate Teams and the mission roster for today. Let's only focus on easy stuff, like meet-'n'-greets or uninhabited planets. Diane-' Here he turned to Biro, who blinked rapidly a few times and then focused red-rimmed eyes on him. 'I need you to collaborate with some of the nurses and have them help you with whatever needs to be done in the infirmary today. I know this isn't your strong suit, people, but there's a reason why we were chosen to be second-in-commands, should something like this ever happen. Well, it's happened, and I want to figure out how to reverse it, and soon. Dismissed.'

Everyone began to file out, but Sasha and Radek stayed behind, gathering up their papers. 'That was really something, Evan.' Sasha murmured as the last scientist left the room. 'I can see why Colonel Sheppard chose you.' With that, she left, heading up to Weir's office to start working on the mission rosters and the other paperwork that the missing diplomat would've usually taken care of. Radek nodded, pausing in the doorway.

'We'll get them back, just watch. They would never leave us behind; why think we would do the same?' he asked before walking towards the nearest transporter. Evan sighed, slumping back down in his recently vacated chair. How Sheppard did it, he'd never know. Maybe he could ask him when they got him back. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. With that thought in mind, he got up, straightened out his uniform, and stepped out into the city with a single purpose in his step and mind:_ Get them home_.


End file.
